“Nobody will find out” and other phrases commonly used in emails by fraudsters

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Ernst & Young says a study it conducted in collaboration with the FBI has turned up 3,000 words and phrases commonly used in emails by people committing fraud, from the obvious (“cover up”) to the obscure (“special fees”) to the cinematic (“call my mobile”).

The accounting firm suggests that companies interested in rooting out fraud should proactively monitor employee email for those terms—using software developed by Ernst & Young, of course. We’d note that you’ll only catch third-rate fraudsters that way, though instant-message transcripts recently released in the Libor scandal suggest there are a lot of those.